Rep. Dan Goldman is Fighting Back as Trump’s Plans Backfire

Summary

The MeidasTouch Podcast: Rep. Dan Goldman is Fighting Back as Trump’s Plans Backfire

Release Date: March 15, 2025
Hosts: Ben Meiselas, Brett Meiselas, Jordy Meiselas
Guest: Congressman Dan Goldman

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Introduction

In this compelling episode of The MeidasTouch Podcast, hosts Ben, Brett, and Jordy Meiselas delve deep into the current political and economic landscape, focusing on the aggressive strategies employed by former President Donald Trump and their unintended consequences. The episode features a riveting discussion with Democratic Congressmember Dan Goldman, who provides an in-depth analysis of Trump's policies and their impact on the American economy and democratic institutions.

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Economic Concerns and Federal Reserve Predictions

The episode kicks off at 2:22 with Ben highlighting troubling data from the University of Michigan. He references the worst inflation expectations since 1993 and the lowest consumer sentiments since 2022, coupled with alarming unemployment predictions reminiscent of the 2008 recession. This sets the stage for a critical examination of the current economic climate.

Ben (02:22):

"The big news from this data was not inflation expectations by itself, but also if you look at what people are saying about the jobs market, the expected change in unemployment is the worst since the 2008 recession."

The discussion transitions to a clip from Howard Lutnick, Trump's commerce secretary, reacting vehemently to the Federal Reserve's forecast of a 2.4% economic contraction.

Howard Lutnick (03:11):

"Right here, right now. That is ridiculous."

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Dan Goldman's Critique of Trump's Policies

At 3:42, Ben introduces Congressman Dan Goldman, who responds to Lutnick's outburst by addressing the broader implications of Trump's policies on the economy. Goldman emphasizes the pervasive fear and uncertainty sown by Trump's erratic decision-making, which he argues is detrimental to both businesses and consumers.

Dan Goldman (03:51):

"So what this whiplash with the tariffs has done is it's not only clearly driven up prices and is going to drive up prices, but it has spooked the American economy. And because there's no clear strategy here, it is purely Donald Trump's whims and latest gut feeling."

Goldman further criticizes Trump's approach to governance, highlighting attacks on vulnerable populations and essential services.

Dan Goldman (05:59):

"Donald Trump promised to make the cost of living much more affordable for lower and middle class Americans. And what he has done since January 20th is the exact opposite."

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Impact of Government Spending Cuts

At 8:28, Ben brings to light a paradox where, despite Trump's aggressive cuts and restructuring within the federal government—such as firing veterans and slashing the Department of Education—federal spending reached a record $603 billion in the previous month.

Ben (08:28):

"Despite everything that Doge has done... last month there was more federal spending than any prior month in the history of the United States of America. $603 billion last month."

Goldman responds by outlining the ulterior motive behind these cuts: reducing taxes for the wealthy and corporations rather than addressing the deficit.

Dan Goldman (09:52):

"They are actually cutting all of these essential programs for the vast majority of American people in order to cut taxes on the wealthy."

He also highlights the inefficiencies and conflicts of interest inherent in Trump's administration, particularly pointing out Trump's attempt to divert federal contracts to his private enterprises.

Dan Goldman (11:53):

"He is trying to use his power and his influence to take over an FAA contract for his Starlink company at the tune of $2.4 billion. And it's an egregious conflict of interest."

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Judicial Intervention on Federal Worker Rehiring

The conversation intensifies at 14:02 when Ben discusses a pivotal court ruling mandating the immediate reinstatement of tens of thousands of fired federal workers. This decision directly challenges Trump's executive actions to dismantle federal agencies and reduce government workforce.

Ben (14:02):

"Judge has ruled that tens of thousands of fired federal workers must be reinstated immediately."

Congressmember Caroline Levitt's response is met with skepticism by Goldman, who questions the legitimacy and authority of lower court rulings that undermine executive decisions without proper legal grounding.

Dan Goldman (14:40):

"She might also want to look down in the fifth Circuit for how many nationwide injunctions a district court judge down in Texas has issued in favor of Republicans."

Goldman vehemently defends the civil service and underscores the detrimental effects of indiscriminate government purges on national security and public services.

Dan Goldman (15:25):

"This type of purging is just gutting our civil service. It will make our government far less efficient, far less effective, and it's really going to jeopardize our national security."

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Conclusion and Final Remarks

As the episode draws to a close, Ben and Goldman exchange thoughts on the ongoing resistance and opposition to Trump's policies within Congress. Goldman calls for greater oversight and accountability, urging that Trump's influence not be unchallenged.

Dan Goldman (16:31):

"Donald Trump is not king. That's not how this country works. The courts are analyzing what the rationale is for these complete cuts, just slashing, without any real individualized attention or focus."

Ben wraps up by encouraging listeners to support the movement against these detrimental policies and to stay informed through the podcast’s various platforms.

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Key Takeaways

• Economic Instability: The Federal Reserve's prediction of a 2.4% contraction and alarming unemployment forecasts indicate significant economic challenges ahead.

• Critique of Trump’s Policies: Congressman Dan Goldman criticizes Trump's erratic and self-serving policies, emphasizing their negative impact on the economy and vulnerable populations.

• Contradictory Federal Spending: Despite significant government shutdowns and cuts, federal spending has reached unprecedented heights, revealing inconsistencies in administration actions.

• Judicial Pushback: Courts are actively countering Trump's attempts to dismantle federal agencies by mandating the reinstatement of fired workers, highlighting a clash between the judiciary and executive branches.

• Call for Accountability: Goldman urges for increased oversight and accountability to prevent the erosion of democratic institutions and protect essential public services.

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Notable Quotes

• Ben (02:22):
  "The big news from this data was not inflation expectations by itself, but also if you look at what people are saying about the jobs market, the expected change in unemployment is the worst since the 2008 recession."

• Howard Lutnick (03:11):
  "Right here, right now. That is ridiculous."

• Dan Goldman (03:51):
  "It is purely Donald Trump's whims and latest gut feeling."

• Dan Goldman (09:52):
  "They are actually cutting all of these essential programs for the vast majority of American people in order to cut taxes on the wealthy."

• Dan Goldman (16:31):
  "Donald Trump is not king. That's not how this country works."

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Final Thoughts

This episode of The MeidasTouch Podcast provides a thorough and incisive analysis of the current political turmoil, emphasizing the repercussions of Trump's policies on the American economy and democratic institutions. Congressman Dan Goldman offers a passionate defense of democratic values and underscores the urgent need for accountability and responsible governance. Listeners gain a deeper understanding of the intricate dynamics at play, making this episode an essential listen for anyone invested in the future of American democracy.

Transcript

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[Ben]

The end of last week, the University of Michigan reported that the kind of worst data it had on inflation expectations since 1993, in addition, consumer sentiments the worst since 2022. The big news from this data was not inflation expectations by itself, but also if you look at what people are saying about the jobs market, the expected change in unemployment is the worst since the 2008 recession. Donald Trump had its, had his surrogates on at the end of last week. The first clip I'm going to show you, though, is from Howard Lutnick, Trump's commerce secretary. And here's what he has to say about the Federal Reserve's project prediction of a 2.4% contraction. Let's play that one first.

[Howard Lutnick]

We've seen worries about growth. I know you said you're not expecting a recession, but investors are on edge over the possibility of a recession this year after the Atlanta Federal Reserve said that it's predicting a 2.4% contraction in the first quarter. And of course, President Trump would not. Wait, wait, wait, say that again. A what? A what? The Atlanta contraction. Correct. Correct. First okay, right here, right here, right now. Right here, right now. That is ridiculous.

[Ben]

Right here, right now I have Democratic Congressmember Dan Goldman. What are you, what are you, what's your reaction to that? What are you hearing from your constituents, Congressman?

[Dan Goldman]

Well, look, everybody's very scared. Not only is everybody scared, the uncertainty, the haphazard way the whiplash creates a tremendous fear. And so even if the economy itself is actually better than one fears, the uncertainty drives companies to be conservative and either certainly not higher, maybe freeze, spend less money. And so what this whiplash with the tariffs has done is it's not only clearly driven up prices and is going to drive up prices, but it has spooked the American economy. And because there's no clear strategy here, it is purely Donald Trump's whims and latest gut feeling. And a lot of times just his tough guy routine where he needs to win the battle of wills. And so I think it's got everyone very scared. And I think that's why the Atlanta Federal Reserve is so noticeably anticipating and predicting that there's going to be a real constriction in the economy. We've seen it in the stock market, but we're going to start seeing it in the unemployment numbers as well.

[Ben]

And his whims and his kind of madness is often directed at the most vulnerable, right? I mean, attacking Social Security Administration, veterans, poor kids, getting rid of the Department of Education. I mean, it seems that this is also very cruelly tailored to attack the people who need help the most or the People who have sacrificed the most for our country.

[Dan Goldman]

You know, Ben, whatever you want to say about the November election and the outcome and some mythical mandate that Donald Trump claims, the exit polling was very clear that the number one issue on voters minds was the economy and affordability. And Donald Trump promised to make the cost of living much more affordable for lower and middle class Americans. And what he has done since January 20th is the exact opposite. He not only is making it less affordable, as you just said, inflation is going up, the cost of eggs and groceries going up, all costs are increasing. But he is also whacking and slashing critical vital services and funding that middle and lower income Americans rely on. And so, you know, Elon Musk might think that the federal government is the same thing as Twitter, but the downside to cutting 75% of costs on Twitter is that you have a crappy social media platform. The downside of cutting half of the United States government is that tens of millions of Americans who rely on that funding don't get it. And it's going to harm a lot of people. It is going to hurt our health care, it is going to hurt our housing, it is going to hurt our food insecurity. I mean, the list goes on and on and on. Seniors, veterans. And then to make matters worse, they're going after Medicaid. With 72 million Americans receive their health care through Medicaid, about 40% of children, almost two thirds of seniors in nursing homes get their health care through Medicaid. And there's no way to meet the House budget without absolutely slashing Medicaid. And Elon Musk has said, as you pointed out, Social Security and Medicare are also on the chopping block. So this was a complete bait and switch by Donald Trump, who blatantly lied to the American people in the lead up to the election and now is betraying every single one of his campaign promises.

[Ben]

You know, I think this headline deserves more attention as well. Despite everything that Doge has done, the cruelty, shutting down the government buildings, firing all of the veterans, getting rid of 70,000 people who work at the VA, shutting down the Social Security Administration buildings, and all of that, last month there was more federal spending than any prior month in the history of the United States of America. $603 billion last month. And so as they're cruelly cutting those salaries, I mean, they're doing these ridiculous PR stunts where they send these military planes to Guantanamo bay to bring 180 people there to the cost of tens of millions of dollars, and then they bring the people back because they actually don't have the facilities at Guantanamo Bay. And they realize also they can't do that. And Trump flies Air Force One in circles around NASCAR tracks. Who knows how much that costs and all the other waste that they actually are spending. So. Well, don't forget all this golf and golf all of the time. Are you seeing a vibe shift, though, out there? I mean, not just in your district, but as you speak to other members of Congress? I mean, are we reaching a different point right now in the kind of resistance and opposition to Trump?

[Dan Goldman]

I think so. And the worst of it has yet to come because the reason they're trying to cut all of this government spending is not what you might think based on all of the rhetoric the Republicans usually use, which is to reduce the deficit. No, it is to pave the way for more tax cuts for Elon Musk, Donald Trump, billionaires, the largest corporations, the ultra wealthy. And so they are actually cutting all of these essential programs for the vast majority of American people in order to cut taxes on the wealthy. So that part of it is starting to get out there, but it has not come through Congress yet, as, for example, Medicaid did. And so it's going to get worse and worse and worse as we move forward. And with the slashing, the indiscriminate. I mean, this is really what really burns me up, is this Musk slashing has nothing whatsoever to do with waste, fraud, and abuse. That is complete bogus. I support getting rid of waste, fraud, and abuse. I support streamlining and making our government more efficient. I certainly would love to use technology to do that, and we should. But Elon Musk is literally using keywords and getting rid of programs that have names that he doesn't like. He has no idea whether it's waste or fraud. And not only that, the stuff that he is representing is what he's doing is pretty much all lies. I mean, one line item he had mistakenly put billions of dollars instead of millions. Eight billion versus eight million. He triple counted another cost cutting measure and doubled the amount he's been floating and promoting cutting programs that ended in George W. Bush's presidency. I mean, this guy is just arbitrarily slashing. But you know what? He's not slashing, Ben? He is not slashing any of the $13 billion of government contracts that he receives. Instead, he's trying to use his power and his influence to take over an FAA contract for his Starlink company at the tune of $2.4 billion. And it's an Egregious conflict of interest. It's corruption at its worst. And it really is not only harmful to the American people, but it's a fundamental attack on our democracy.

[Ben]

You know, it's, it's cartoonish villain stuff manifested in the real world right now. And you talk about that, too. And, like, when they fired all of these people from the federal government, they, like, defamed them, too. And they would say that these people were fired for cause and for performance, which also had implications also depending on what state they are and their unemployment, their ability to be rehired if they're fired for cause. And federal judge in California, Northern District Judge Alup I used to appear in front of when I was practicing back in the day, he looked at these, no nonsense judge, you know, this federal judge, you know, like you were a federal prosecutor. I mean, these Trump sending these DOJ people who don't have the facts, don't know who runs the agencies, who are staring at these judges. And these judges are like, well, who runs that? Who's doing that? And, and these DOJ lawyers for Trump are like, we're understaffed. We don't know. And these judges are issuing scathing rulings. So the federal judge is like, you know what? Rehire them all in various departments. Bring them back. And I may have them all be rehired, but I'm going to focus on certain departments now. So today, on Friday, rather, the Trump administration, they're out there whining. They're whining. Let me show you. They're going. It's unconstitutional. It's unfair. Here, play this clip.

[Dan Goldman]

Judge has ruled that tens of thousands of fired federal workers must be reinstated immediately.

[Ben]

Okay, Karen, how are you going to fight that?

[Caroline Levitt]

Well, let's talk about the absurdity of this. Sue. You have a single lower district court judge who ruled that all of these individuals need to be rehired. Just usurping the executive authority of president, of President Trump to fire federal workers. This cannot be allowed to happen. This ruling was unconstitutional. The White House and the Trump administration, administration are prepared to fight back.

[Ben]

What's your response to that?

[Dan Goldman]

My response is she, she would benefit from going to law school before she starts spouting off about what's on unconstitutional or not. She might also want to look down in the fifth Circuit for how many nationwide injunctions a district court judge down in Texas has issued in favor of Republicans. But the bottom line is they don't have any good arguments other than Donald Trump is king. And we know Donald Trump is not king. That's not how this country works. The courts are analyzing what the rationale is for these complete cuts, just slashing, without any real individualized attention or focus. And they're doing it in violation of the employees rights, as you point out, the disdain and the demeaning way that they speak about federal government employees, who, by the way, I mean, I was one for 10 years as a prosecutor, but so many of the others that I have come across are real American patriots. I mean, these are people who are sacrificing, making a lot more money in the private sector to anonymously serve the United States government. And they are experts in many, many respects. And this type of purging is just gutting our civil service. It will make our government far less efficient, far less effective, and it's really going to jeopardize our national security. And so, you know, Caroline Levitt can talk all she wants about the constitutionality of this ruling, but take it up with the appeals court. That's how our system works.

[Ben]

Yeah. And also send Elon Musk to go in front of you in Congress. Send him in front of the Senate so y'all can ask him questions. Right. Oversight. Anyway, I want to have you back on soon. I appreciate you. I appreciate the stand you took against that cr, the horrible cr. Really appreciate, you know, everything you're doing. So please come back. Thank you, Congressman.

[Dan Goldman]

Anytime. Ben. Good to see you.

[Ben]

Everybody hit subscribe. Let's get to 5 million subscribers. Thanks for watching. Can't get enough Midas? Check out the Midas plus substack for ad. Free articles, reports, podcasts, daily recaps from Ron Filipkowski and more. Sign up for free [e-mail].